I Love You, And Only You
by Accesorized
Summary: What will a little girl do when she is faced with the cold, hard fact of reality? Will she pick family and friends, or will she go out looking for the pieces missing from her heart? Will she ever learn to love again? NarutoxOc...? Changed Summary
1. Chapter 1:That Fateful Day

**I don't own Naruto, but on a better note, I do own this story.so…yippee.**

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Hey guys, I hope you like chapter 2…Sorry if the time skip is a bit early, it's just, well, what was I gonna do for 3 years hm? So- yeah. Here you go.

Shizuka woke up, and slowly sat up in her big bed. She was 8 today, but she didn't feel like it. This was how it always was, Shizuka thought. She would only feel like the age she was when she was about to be a year older. She shrugged it off, and walked towards the door. Just as she was about to open it, she heard her parents talking in the next room.

"How could this happen! Right now, out of all times!" Shizuka heard her father urgently whispering.

"I- I don't know. P-please, don't leave I-I need you! here!" Tsukiko pleaded, sounding on the verge of tears, and, was it possible? Desperate? What was her mother talking about? Shizuka had never heard her parents talking to each other like this. Shizuka pressed her ear against her door, forgetting all about her birthday.

"Get your filthy hands off me! Goodbye Tskiko." Shizuka heard her father stomp down the stairs, then a moment later, she heard a door slam. Tears brimmed the edges of Shizuka's eyes, and she let them flow. After a few minutes of weeping, which seemed like ages to Shizuka, she slowly opend up the door. She didn't even know why she was crying. Her father would be back, he probably just left for the market, and he and her mother were fighting about how they ran out of rice or something. Yeah, that was it.

Shizuka wiped her eyes, and after her vision wasn't as blury, she quietly walked towards her mother, who was still sitting on her nees, shocked. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes. It was like she was glued to the spot, unable to move. Shizuka hurried her pace. Once she had reached her mother, she embraced her in a tight hug.

"Mommy!" She whispered, feeling the tears slowly trace down her face again. Her mother returned the hug. They sat there, not saying anything to each other.

** -3 years later-**

Shizuka breathed in and out heavily. She had never trained this hard. Shizuka was 11 now, and had matured very quickly. After that fateful day when her father had left her and her mother, she was pretty much forced to. Her mother was pregnant, that's why she and her husband were fighting. After a few months, Tsukiko had no choice but to tell her little Shizuka that she would have a younger sibling soon. Like all 8-year-olds, Shizuka was extatic! She just couldn't wait to have a little sister, or brother. She had already had all of it planned out; if it were a boy, she would call it Daiki (great tree). If it were a girl, she would call it Ai, which meant love. Of course her mother wouldn't let her name her child, but Shizuka liked to think so.

A wicked grin met the face of Shizuka Kagami. She lept at her teammate, a ball of purple fire resting in her hand. She shot it at her apponent, he blocked it of course, but when he looked back to where Shizuka was, she was, infact, not there. He quickly turned around, expecting an attack from behind. Knowing he would do this, Shizuka jumped from behind a tree, from where she was hiding. She caught her opponent in a headlock, and held her finger to his neck. It immeidiatly lit with a small purple flame.

"Gotcha." She whispered into the boy's ear.

"Shizuka! Lay off!" Shizuka heard her sensei call, while he was preoccupied training with her other teammate.

"Fine. Goodness sensei, I wish you would let me kill him for once..." Shizuka muttered, and let the boy go. He backed up quickly, with fear of another headlock. Shizuka nodded, telling her teammate to come at her with all that he had.

Shizuka loved ninja training. It was the only thing that she looked forward to anymore except for coming home to her little brother, Isamu (bravery). He was 2 and a half now, and growing. She loved to see him stand up, and walk around. Of course, she loved to come home to her mother too, when she wasn't drinking. She would usually be out at a party with someone, but never told where that party was. Shizuka was usually in charge of taking care of the baby, putting it down for a nap at around noon, and then feeding it, and then letting it play.

Ninja training was like her gettaway, it took her to another world. A world where she was really good at something. Shizuka wasn't the most graceful of people, but when she is fighting, it's a whole other story. Her 2 teammates on her squad in the sound villiage were a boy named Katsu, (the one she was training with now) and another boy named Ryo, which her sensei was training at the moment. Shizuka loathed Katsu. He lived in a big mansion, while as Shizuka had to move down into a shabby appartment after her father left her and her mother to take care of themselves alone. He was rude, and to Shizuka, weak.

Ryo, on the other hand, had become quite fond of Shizuka, they had become best friends in the last few months Shizuka had been training.

Katsu lept towards Shizuka, and tried to kick her. She grabbed his ankle, and with a little twist, he was on the ground.

"Come on! Sensei, Let me train with Ryo, please! This is just too easy!" Shizuka called to her sensei, blocking a kick from behind her. She shot a glare at Katsu, and he quickly backed up.

"Oh, fine-" Her sensei said, but then was caught off guard, and was right where Ryo wanted him, he lept at his sensei, and took him down.

"Haha sensei, weren't you the one that told me never to be caught off guard?" Ryo laughed and jumped off Hotaka, their sensei.

"Ahem." Hotaka stood up and straitened his clothing. "Like I was saying, fine Shizuka, let's switch."

"Yes." Shizuka muttered. "Buhbye now little Katsu." Shizuka stuck her tounge out at Katsu and walked towards the part of the misty training grounds that Ryo was standing in.

"You're going down Shiz." Ryo said, smacking his hands together in a handsign, not very familiar to Shizuka.

Ryo always called Shizuka Shiz, it was just her nickname.

"Sure Ryo, sure." Shizuka grinned as she watched her best friend finish his handsign, and smirk.

"Prepare to go deaf, Shiz." Shizuna knew what Ryo could do to people, and immiediatly lept into action. She jumped towards him, avoiding the waves of sound he was shooting

Shizuka ran towards Ryo, then she saw it. In the midst of the intense training, Shizuka saw her dad.

"Daddy?" Shizuka whispered, and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Got ya shiz." Ryo was about

a kunai at Shizuka, but quickly stopped when he saw that she wasn't going to dodge it. Something was wrong with her.

"Shizuka? Are you all right?" Shizuka just sat there, and then burst into purple flame.

"Why did you leave us? Did you REALLY expect us to just to live through our lives and just forget all about the father that I used to have that just-left?"

Ryo backed away from Shizuka quickly, but it was too late. She had already shot two, four, six fireballs at him from her hands.

"Shizuka…" was all he could bring out before he was put into torturing pain.

"Shizuka! What have you done!" Hotaka yelled, forgetting all about the fight he was having with his student. He rushed to Shizuka's side as fast as humanly possible, and held her back from doing any more than she had already done.

"Get away from me! Get away…" Shizuka became quickly limp from the jutsu her sensei shot at her. It had stopped her, but Ryo was still in horrifying pain. He was screaming as loud as he could. Eventually he fell to the ground, starting to shake uncontrolably.

**Sometime later on…**

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"I cannot have her in my class, putting her teammates in danger." Hotaka said.

"Yes, I understand. We will send her back home. There she will be fine; we can't have her exposed to anyone except her family. You two gaurds, escort Miss Kagami back to her home. Her mother will be worried sick." Said someone unknown.

"Yes sir…"

** Meanwhile….**

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Shizuka slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Her head was throbbing, and her legs and arms were aching. She immiediatly fell back down on her pillow. She looked at her arms; they were bandaged…but why? Then she remembered. She remembered what she had done to her best friend…Then she felt a wave of shame flow over her. What had she done? How could she do this to Ryo? Why did she see her dad in him? Before she could answer her haunting questions, her little brother walked in.

"Where momma?" He said. He had gotten used to saying those couple of words, seeing as his mother was usually gone at those parties. Isamu walked towards her sister.

Shizuka slowly sat up once more, dispite how beat up she was. She did her best to hide the pain through a smile, but it didn't look that convincing. Lucky for her, though, her little brother was only fixed on seeing his mommy. She threw her legs over the bed, and carefully stood up.

"Come on Isamu, Let's go find Mommy." Shizuka held his hand tight, and started to walk out of the room.

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**Well, I hope you liked it! If it's a bit short, well, too bad. Kayso. Yeah. Please review, and please criticise! So…yeah. : )**

**-Rachel**


	2. Chapter 2:Notes of Farewell

Kay. I don't own Naruto…I should get over myself…so…yeah. Review please. 

**Notes of Farewell;Chapter 3**

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_ Shizuka,_

_ It hurts me to write this note, but bluntly speaking, I can't take care of you and your brother anymore. It's just too much. My job isn't paying barely enough to pay the bills and frankly, I'm wasting my time and effort trying to keep this life together. You are 12 today,_

Shizuka looked up. Yes, it was her birthday. But after what had happened with her dad, she had decided she didn't really like birthdays anymore…

_I know this is very sudden, but it is the best thing to do. I can't do this anymore, Shizuka. I'm sure you will be a great mother some day, and I hope you will make a better life than I have made of this one. Goodbye, dear._

_-Tsukiko_

Shizuka stood, cemented to the spot, reading over and over the neatly roled and tied pastey white scroll she had found lying on the small love seat sitting in the little squished up room, looking a bit out of place. She still held her little brother's hand, but dropped the note back on the couch, and just sat there.

"Sissy?" Isuma looked worriedely towards his older sister. Tears welled up in Shizka's wide-open eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. She looked towards her little Isuma and thought about how she should aproach the matter of how he was probably never going to see his mother again if the letter was true, shizuka thought. Yeah, what if it was just a very crule joke her mother made up when she was drunk? Shizuka shook her head at the thought. This was reality, and she had to make the best out of it.

"Isuma, Mommy's not going to be back for a little bit. But in the meantime, how about we go on a little trip?" Shizuka said, looking at her brother hopefully. Once he had nodded, she squeezed his hand a bit harder and walked towards her bedroom. She had to get out; she had to start over! What was she supposed to do? Just sit here and forget about how she had no mother or father and how she had to take care of herself and her brother alone? No.

She went to her closet, took out only things neccesary for a trip; Some clothes, a pillow, and a blanket.

Next she walked into her mother's room, and took some things out of litte Isuma's crib. A blanket, teddy bear, and a pillow. On her way out, she saw her mother's bed, and how it was stripped of all blankets and pillows. Her heart pulled a bit, but she ignored it.

She walked into the small kitchen, still holding tightly onto Isuma's hand. She opened the mini refridgerator, took some non-parishables and stuffed them in her almost full backpack.

"Come on Isama, let's go." Shizuka said, walking Isuma towards the front door.

"We're going to see a good friend of mine…" Shizuka told her brother as they walked through the small villiage towards the hostpital. Shizuka's expression slightly saddened as she got closer and closer to the tall, bland building. She then stopped at a flower shop on the road.

"Hey, let's get some flowers Isuma!" She said, trying to smile. Isuma held up his arms, signaling that he wanted her to pick him up. She did so, holding him with one arm, letting him rest on her hip. She got out a few coins from her pocket and slapped them down on the counter. The woman took the coins, and Shizuka took a whole bouquet of flowers, but the lady that ran the flower shop snatched the flowers back, and took almost half of the flowers out of the bunch, then gave the few that were left back to Shizuka. She softly smiled at the lady, but made it clear through that smile that the flower woman was not on her 'best friend's forever' list.

Once Shizuka and Isamu had reached the hostpital, they stopped at the front desk.

"We're here to see Ryo Binachi." Shizuka told the lady at the desk.

"Ah, room 32, level 2." The medic Nin said.

Shizuka tightened her grip on Isuma as she got closer and closer towards her best friend's room.

30, 31, 32. She stopped in front of the plain white door. Even if it was just like all the other ones, this door stood out a bit to Shizuka. It's small number engraved on the front of it looked a little deeper than the others were. The door nob had a bit of a glossier surface then the rest. She placed her free hand on the luminous handle, and turned it.

Inside on the tidy, neat bed lay her best friend, Ryo. He wasn't the only one in the room, though. She looked around, and found someone she suspected to be Ryo's mother, and next to her was his father.

She nodded and smiled at them, while as they just glared at her. Ryo looked so peacful, Shizuka thought. Instead of being put through torturing pain, he was just sitting there, his always calm face expressionless.

She sat Isuma down by the door, and slowly and quietly walked towards his bed. She sat the flowers down on the table next to where he was peacfully sleeping, and placed a note folded up next to them.

Ignoring the holes being bored into the back of her head by his parents, she whispered,

"Goodbye, Ryo."

She turned to leave, and could feel Ryo's parents eyeing her down, so she quickened her pace out the door.

"Come on Isuma. Let's go." She said, quickly picking her little brother up, refraining to cry.

She walked out of the hostpital, fully knowing that she was on her own from now on.

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Kso guys. That was like- probably the shortest chapter that I'm going to do in this 'series' let's call it.And uhm…yeah…Might have a time skip sometime soon, so get ready I guess. So…yeah. Flame up in reviews, it makes me feel special inside… : Anywho. Thanks for reading.

-Accesorized


	3. Chapter 3:She Walks A Lonely Road

**Hey guys. Yeah. Chapter 4- done. Uhm…Review please? Flame please? And uh…yeah. That'll do.**

** 1 Month Later**

Shizuka quickly and quietly slipped out of the small bed her and Isuma were sleeping in, careful not to wake him. She had woke from an almost sleepless night. Nevertheless, she jumped up, feeling more confident and started to stretch.

She and Isuma were staying in a small hotel on their way to the only place she knew how to get to-Konoha.

Shizuka walked towards the rather small bathroom, on her way grabbing her change of clothes; Black shorts that led down to just above her nees, a plain, shorth white t-shirt, and a black tanktop to go under. She tied her long, purple hair into a neat ponytail, with a red band.

Walking into the next room, she noticed Isuma sitting up in his bed. He looked at Shizuka, and then fell back down on his pillow. Shizuka slightly chuckled at this; They had barely had gotten any sleep last night, which caused her brother to be extremely tired. She walked to the door of the little room, and slipped her white, beat-up sandels on. She slightly grimaced, as she looked out the window, noting that she had beat the sun this morning. It was completely dark outside. She decided that it was best to train, considering that she would be left in peace at this time of day. Besides- she would only be gone for a bit, She just was going to jog around, and maybe practice her jutsu. She went to the bed.

"I'll be outside, Ok?" Shizuka whispered into Isuma's ear. He nodded and rolled over. Shizuka watched him do so, observing his every movment, though not really seeing him...

** -Flashback-**

**"Ryo! Hurry up!" Shizuka shouted, running along in her usual peppy mood, heading towards her favorite place in the whole world.**

**"Wait up Shizuka!" Ryo replied, following his best friend. They were both 11 now, and just as close as ever. Shizuka quickly stopped, and Ryo almost ran into her. Shizuka then hastily stuck her hands out over Ryo's eyes.**

**"Shizuka, what is this?" Ryo questioned, trying to escape Shizuka's death-grip.**

**"Walk forward…ok." Shizuka took her hands off of his eyes, and turned around. Ryo managed to let out a quiet "wow" before Shizuka interupted his moment. She usually did this, saying he shouldn't waste precious time staring out into space.**

**"Do you like it?" Shizuka blurted out, quite hastily. They looked over almost all of the sound villiage, the little houses looked like ants from the hight.**

**"I love it Shizuka!" Ryo said, turning to see Shizuka, arms stretched out, and eyes closed. Ryo watched her, His eyes trailing down her well-trained legs, and then he noticed something. A cut, it looked like, near her ankle.**

**"Shizuka, what is that?" Ryo asked, curiousity obvious in his tone of voice. Shizuka opened her eyes and looked down at her ankle.**

**"Oh, it's nothing. I just got it on that mission we were on the other day, you know, the one where we had to rescue the cat or whatever." Shizuka lied. She was always a very good lier, considering she always lied to her mother about things like where she goes at night. Her usual exuse is "her sensei makes her stay late." But she wouldn't go to the training grounds. She would go to the little field about 20 minutes off from her house. She would go there and just lie down and look at the moon. She loved to watch the moon when**

**the clouds slowly trail over it. But now, she thought, she was too old for such silly things.**

**–Even if she was just 10-**

**"Shizuka, when we become ninja…I just want to say, we-we might…go our separate ways. And that's ok, so, when you go…your separate way- just, well, tell me. I don't want to feel blamed, or guilty or whatever." Shizuka raised an eyebrow at ryo.**

**"I would never leave. Especially without telling you. Promise." Shizuka whispered the last word with a bit of emphasis. They stood there, looking at eachother. Shizuka stepped towards Ryo and embraced him. Suprisingly, he hugged back. Shizuka knew what it was like to feel like everything that went wrong was her fault. It didn't feel good. There they were, hugging, and hugging, and hugging some more. Once they finally let go of eachother, they smiled.**

**"Come on, let's get home."**

** -Flashback over…-**

**-Later on that day-**

It hurt Shizuka almost as it hurt her to leave her friends to leave right before her and her team were going to become real, official ninjas. Also she felt terrible for not following through with her promise. She always did, because it made her feel different, she felt that she was being honest for others around her. They didn't follow through with _their_ promises, so she thought that if she did, it would make everyone else do the same. It didn't work.

She had always thought of running away, from that horrible life, just leaving it. Something held her back though. She never knew she would have such bad timing. She had always wanted to be a ninja, even when she was 6, she would find herself daydreaming about becoming one and fighting off the "bad guys" and protecting her villiage. That was back when her father had homeschooled her. She used to hate having to start school earlier than all of her other friends. She told her father how she felt about it, but he just said, "It's for the best, Shizuka." Or "You will thank me one day for this" or even "You will be a great ninja one day, Shizuka, this is just the first step." Back then, Shizuka always believed anything her parents said. Even if they said that vegtables were special ninja food that gave kids super powers, that would be all that she would eat for the next week.

Now, of course, she didn't trust anyone. After her father left, how was she supposed to? She never took anyone's word, never.

A few hours later…(AN: Sorry for the freaking time skips you guys…)

Shizuka let her little Isamu rest his head on her shoulder, as she carried on, walking towards Konoha. She had been there once when she was a little girl, with her father- her father. Shizuka refused to speak his name anymore, not even think of him. But nevertheless, she would catch herself thinking of his short black hair, and his eyes, like the ones Shizuka had. She would quickly switch the subject in her mind to something like where Her and Isamu were going to stay over night. It was the same with her mother, she just didn't think about it. She didn't need her! She and Isamu were doing just fine the way they were. Shizuka liked to think that, but sooner or later, she would have to face the reality of things. She was running out of the small amount of money her mother hade left her, and she knew that her backpack was getting lighter every second of the way towards Konoha. She knew she couldn't afford to buy some more food, and that she had no chance of surviving without any food.

The small hotels she was staying at were very cheap, but very shabby. Isamu hated the cockroaches that came out from their little hiding places in the walls of their room. Shizuka didn't really care for them either.

As Shizuka slowly and grudgingly walked towards a sign she saw up ahead. On it it said _Konoha: 20 miles_. Shizuka groaned as the sun beat down on her neck, but kept walking nevertheless. She then heard her brother softly breathing on her neck. She smiled, and felt her confidence, which had been reduced to almost zero, slowly rise. The only thing that kept her going was the fact that soon she would be able to relax for a bit with her little Isamu. Before she could start fantasizing about the future though, something corrupted her thoughts. She quickly turned around, a speck of green and blue coming into view.

"Come on Hideki! I'm going to beat you this time!" Said the green-headed girl, the two children coming into view now. The blue haired boy increased his speed, and was coming in so fast, that Shizuka was sure he was going to run her over. She quickly stepped aside, sorta jerkingly, causing Isuma to jump, and wake up. Shizuka just moved out of the way, but not fast enough to get away from the girl. She was just about to run into Shizuka, but she immiediatly stopped, slipping, and falling on the ground.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking at all, are you ok?" She said, very fast. She then grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, we're fine…Hey, Are you guys from Konaha?" Shizuka asked, brushing her clothes off. The Blue-haired boy stopped and quickly turned around.

They both looked about 10. The girl had a soft feature, but seemed a bit spunky. She wore a plain black shirt, a plaid skirt, and some white sandels, which looked a bit beat-up.

The boy, on the other hand, sported a tight black shirt, white shorts, and some plain black sandels.

"Yeah! My name's Izumi! And this guy's name is Hideki." She said, gesturing towards the boy with bright blue hair. The boy raised a hand.

"Where are you from?" Izumi asked, blinking at Shizuka.

"U-Uhm…Suna!" Shizuka blurted out. She didn't want to start any trouble…and to accomplish this, she knew she couldn't tell anyone about where she came from.

"Oh, cool! What's it like there? It must be like- awesome!" Izumi said, the she started rambling on and on about how she would die if she lived somewhere that dirty.

After a while, hideki stuck his arm out in annoyence, and shoved his hand on Izumi's mouth to get her to stop talking. He glared at the girl.

"Izumi, it's time for us to go…" He said quietly, then turned and grinned sheepishly at Shizuka, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'd better get going too, I hope I see you again!" Shizuka said, smiling widely at the two. Hideki took his hand off Izumi's mouth to wave a goodbye to Shizuka. They walked their separate ways, and Shizuka couldn't help but to think it was a bit odd that two 10-year-old children were just wandering about, 20 miles from their home. Shizuka shrugged the thought off, and kept walking towards her destination.

"Do you know how close that was? She was about to figure it out! Good job Etsuko." The so-called "Hideki" said to Etsuko.

"I think that was just her bordom, Kenji…" Etsuko said, slightly laughing at her guard-mate.

Then they formed a handseal and transformed into an older version of the kids they were pretending to be.

Both wore leaf villiage headbands. Etsuko wore short white shorts that went down to just in the middle of her thighs, with black leggings underneath. She also wore white sandels and a bright orange quarter sleeved shirt, her curly green hair pulled back into a lose ponytail, her bangs that had fallen out tucked behind her ears.

Kenji on the other hand wore dark blue shorts, A plain white t-shirt, and a black jacket, also sporting black sandels.

"Looks like we need to report this one to the hokage imeidiatly." Kenji said. Etsuko nodded, her expression becoming more serious now. They jumped off, the shorter way towards Konoha.

"Aw man…how long is this going to take?" Shizuka said, this time jumping towards Konoha in hope of a faster way to reach her destination. After a little while, she could see Konoha's front gate coming into view. She smiled at this site. She tightened her grip on Isuma and increased her pace.

**BUM, BUM, BUM. Ok. So. Uhm. Yay. Chapter…uh…4? Whatever. Yeah, uhm. Review, flame, please, I don't really care…and-yeah. Thanks for reading you guys.**

**-Accesorized**


	4. Chapter 4:It Was For the Best

**Hey guys. Sorry I havn't written in like- forever. So. Uh. Yeah. Her it is. I know it's really short, but don't get mad at me...Anywho. Review.**

Konoha hadn't really changed much, thought Shizuka. She was walking from the front gates of this beautiful villiage, which had taken what had seemed like forever to get past.

The gaurds thought it neccesary to ask many, many questions about where she was from, why she came here and why she said she was a villiager when she was clearly a shinobi, what with her training weights, shinobi sandels, and her backpack filled with all the essentials; A survival kit, first-aid kit, and bits of leftover "ninja food" rapped in plastic.

The gaurds were still suspicious of Shizuka, even after searching her bags, asking her questions, and ridding all of her weapons. Shizuka groaned as she tightened her grip on Isuma. This was taking way too long. But why was she in such a rush? That, she didn't know.

She glanced at Isuma riding on her back; He looked nervous, very nervous. This didn't surprise Shizuka; the were being searched by complete strangers-scratch that last-_shinobi_ strangers. She rolled her eyes as the gaurds searched her bag one last time before they reached the very large doors of where Shizuka suspected to be the Hokage's home. It was a huge building, with enormous oak doors. The color of this structure accented them very well. She looked up and saw what looked like some of Konoha's former Hokage's carved into the mountain beside the temple-like building. It looked amazing, Shizuka thought. She tried to hide her awe from the gaurds, but apparently it didn't work because one of them said, "It's amazing, isn't it?" looking at Shizuka's face, then back at the hokage's.

Shizuka merely nodded, and closed her mouth as she headed through the large, oak doors.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The hokage sat at his desk patiently, awaiting the newly assigned apointment with the front guards of Konoha. He sat back in his chair, and thought of who they were bringing. The gaurds usually never visited the hokage unless it was something extremly important-like an intruder. He glanced at the door for a moment, then back at the wall. Of course it wasn't an intruder, nor a spy. They would have been here faster if that was the case. But still- he couldn't shrug the feeling off. Before he could rid this nagging feeling though, there was a knock on the large oak door.

"Come in." He said, sitting back up in his seat, placing his elbows on the neat and tidy desk, touching his finger tips together. A serious look was painted on his face as a little girl walked in with a small boy on her back. She looked about 13, and he looked around 2 or 3. Her eyes were filled with emotion. Rage, sadness, and frustration. The frustration part probably came from the gaurds intarigating her…people always hated that.

"Hello. Please, sit." He said, gesturing towards a chair in front of his desk.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"May I ask why you came here?" He asked, in a very kind tone.

"_Oh, screw the plan. Just tell him the truth." _Shizuka thought. As if he could read her mind, the old hokage said, "You are right, you should tell me the truth." Shizuka kept her gaze upon his eyes. Before she answered his questions, she gave him one of her nasty glares that could send chills up a genin' s back.

"I was supposed to become a ninja today in the villiage hidden in sound." She said, looking down at her feet, remembering how she left her friend in the hostpital. "_It was for the best, it was for the best, it was for the best!" _She chanted over and over again in her mind. _"I have to find my father! If I don't, I could put someone else in the same state as Ryo…It was for the best." _

"I came here to find my father that left me when I was 8. I am here to train-to avenge my family."

(A.N-yeah, I know it's kinda like…sasuke-ish…but whatever.)

"Ok. I need you to fill out these forms, and then, since we are also starting this year's new ninja,

and you said you were becoming a shinobi today, right?" Shizuka nodded slightly.

"So, here you go." He said, handing Shizuka quite a tall stack of papers, smiling at her. She didn't return his friendly gesture though. She looked around the office filled with an awkward silence, and put Isuma on her lap. She started to fill out her forms as Isuma played with an eraser he had found on the ground.

"_Hmm… emergency contacts…none…" _Shizuka continued to fill out the stack of forms.

She finally finished on the question "Do you have any children? If so, list below." She had put down Isuma, thinking that he was practically her child now. That thought made her stomach hurt, knowing that she was now responsible for him. If he ever got hurt, if anything ever happened to him, it would be her fault- Her fault only. She pushed that thought into the back of her mind though, and tried a smile. She slowly stood, pulling Isuma up on the way. The clock behind her ticked and tocked as she walked towards the huge desk in a time that seemed to take ages. The Hokage's eyes seemed to bore into hers. She quickly looked away, pretending to be interested in the woodwork on the door. She handed the papers to him, and as he looked through the mostly empty sheets, he asked, "Well, considering what you put down on these, you are Level with the new shinobi. I will put you in a group, and then we can work out where you are going to live.

Shizuka thought about how kind this was of the Hokage, to be giving her a place to live, and putting her straight into a ninja class. It seemed strange, such kindness. The Kage of her villiage was crule. He never gave villiagers extra money to stay alive, never helped them, at all. What a terrible thought to be thinking about her own villiage, but she had put that behind her. She was never going back there, never. She wanted to start on a new leaf, continue her training, and try out a regular shinobi life.

People don't always get what they want, though.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Kay guys. Not really a cliff hanger, And I know it was REALLY short, but…I liked the ending…:**

**Anyway, loves. I hope you liked it. I sure did. Plese review, 'cause I'd love you forever. Oh yeah, She meets Naruto in the next one...: Yeah, I hope you don't get mad at me for not writing in like- forever. But. Uh. And don't get mad at me for kinda putting Naruto SORTA out of character. Lolz. This is fun. : Review. OMG. OMG, AND. I'm gonna write LONGER CHAPTERS. Like- really long. Promise. So. Uh. Get ready. Anywho. Review.**

**-Accesorized**


	5. Chapter 5:Belonging Here

**-sniff- I don't own Naruto… Plus you guys. This might be a kinda cruddy chapter, considering I have been suffering from writer's block for the past few weeks..But! I have done my best, and that is what matters. I'm sure the next chapter will be a bit better. Lmao. So. Uh. Here you go. **

* * *

"Yes, this should be good." Muttered the Hokage. He had been going on like this for about 30 minutes now. Shizuka sat in the oddly uncomfortable, wooden chair in front of his desk, arms crossed. 

"Ok, well. I have looked through all of the groups, switched around a few people, and well, here we go!" He said, causing Shizuka look up from her gazing at the wall. He had said that they were putting _kids _into groups today, and he would make room for Shizuka.

Kids? Just who, does he think he's talking to? "_Well, a regular 12 year-old sound villiage ninja.." _Shizuka thought. Actually, technically, she wasn't really a ninja yet. She didn't have a headband, for one.

She had tried not to be impatient… but she couldn't help muttering, "finally…" under her breath as he said this.

"You will be put on team 7. Your sensei's name is Kakashi, you will adress him "Kakashi, Sensei". Your teammates are Uchiha, Sasuke, and Uzumaki, Naruto. Shizuka looked up at the name, Uchiha. Even all the way back in the Sound villiage, the Uchiha clan was famous. She heard people talk about how one of their own had killed the whole clan, accept for one. She was going to have the last Uchiha on her team! Maybe this 'new life' wouldn't be that bad…

"Here you go…" The Hokage said, handing a small envelope to Shizuka. She slowly opened it, and let out a small gasp as she pulled out a blue leaf villiage headband.

"You said you were an expert in Nin jutsu…The Tainted Fire No Jutsu? Very impressive to be able to handle that power at your age." He said, staring Shizuka down. She just sat there, looking with sparkly eyes at her headband. He cleared his throat.

"I will alow you to stay at the orfanage for now…You should be comfortable there." He said, nodding again. Shizuka untied the headband, and tried it on. It felt like it fit perfectly on her forehead- like it was meant to be there. Shizuka smiled. She also noticed how he said, "allow". He sure did make his authority clear.

She took the headband off again, and carefully placed it back in the envolope. She would put it on tomorrow, when she was officially part of this villiage.

"You should meet with your team-mates tomorrow at the academy around 12 in the afternoon."

* * *

Unlike most girls her age, Shizuka didn't really care for boys-all though, she isn't like most girls her age. The only thing she really thought about was her little brother and, well, training. Shizuka thought about this as she walked down one of Konoha's main streets. There were a few people walking along, just getting out of work, considering it was close to evening.

She stared into nothingness as she walked along the road, not even sure where she was. The Hokage _allowed _her to stay in the orfenage for a bit, just until she got a job, and earned some money to rent an apartment.

She had reluctantly let her little brother stay at the home for now, because she was far too tired to carry him around anymore at the moment.

Before she could start thinking about her little Isuma, she was interupted by two voices, belonging to a boy about Shizuka's age, and a man that looked well into his 40's, and was running what looked like a ramen stand. The boy had spiky, blond hair. The expression on his face was an energetic one. The man had black, greying hair, and wore a warm smile that made Shizuka think about the old lady that had run the bakery, right beside her house. She was very nice, and Shizuka considered her as the kind of mother figure she never really had.

"Are you in for a late night snack, Naruto?" The man asked.

The boy called Naruto looked at the ramen stand, and then grinned widely.

"I guess a bit of ramen couldn't hurt!" He said, jumping into a seat in front of the stand.

"Hmmm… give me the usual." He said, nodding.

"Coming right up!"

"_Wait, could this be the Naruto I was put on a team with? There are probably not a lot of Naruto's in this villiage…but you never know…"_

Shizuka then remembered just how hungry she was. Her stomach growled, and she looked longingly at the ramen stand. She had told little Isuma that she was going out to get some take-out and a little fresh air… ramen would be perfect! Atleast it's better than the stale bread they had to eat for a week. Shizuka walked towards the ramen stand, and sat down on the stool farthest away from the boy called Naruto. It took him almost 2 minutes to look away from the man making his ramen, stop drooling, and notice Shizuka was there.

He grinned sheepishly, waved, and went back to staring at his in-progress ramen.

"May I help you?" A girl that looked around 19 said, coming out of nowhere.

"Oh, erm." Shizuka said, not prepared to order. She looked up at the menu, and thought about what Isuma would like. There were many choices, and she only had a bit of money left.

"Pssst," Shizuka turned to her right and saw the boy whispering something to her. She leaned in, to hear him better.

"You should get the special-it's half off today." He said, nodding, as if he had read her thoughts. Shizuka nodded back and winked. She found this boy funny, even if she didn't really know him…yet.

"I'll take two orders of the special to go." She said to the woman. She nodded, and dissapeared into the back of the small stand.

Shizuka looked back up at the stores, and by the time she looked back, Naruto had gotten his bowl of ramen, eaten it, and ordered a second one. Shizuka stared at him in amazement as he smiled and rubbed his stomach. He saw her looking at him, and he gave her that silly grin of his, a bit of noodle stuck in between his teath. Shizuka giggled a bit, which made his head really turn. She motioned her hands to her mouth, trying to get him to catch the hint. He looked at her blankly, and blinked.

Finally, he figured it out and turned a very light shade of red before he closed his mouth and looked away.

"Hey, what's your name? I haven't seen you around here before." He finally said, looking back at her.

Shizuka didn't answer immediately; she might have looked calm and reserved on the outside, but on the inside she was having a small battle with her inner-self.

"_It couldn't hurt to tell him…he's just, what, 12 years old?"_

"_**Yes, but you can't trust anybody!"**_

"_I thought the whole reason I came here was to start a new life, and maybe make some friends..."_

Naruto looked back at Shizuka.

"Huh?" He said, still staring at her.

"Oh, erm. My name is Shizuka…" She said, looking down a bit. Nowadays she had been ashamed just to announce her name to anybody. Well, maybe ashamed wasn't the right word. More like scared. Scared of if they might know her some how, they might know that she used to live in the sound villiage, among those people, among the very people that would probably come to strike the villiage hidden in the leaves any day now.

"What's yours?" Shizuka asked, looking back up.

"Naruto Uzamaki, future Hokage- believe it!" He said, his mood brightening suprisingly fast.

"That is going to be quite a feat…I am honored to meet you, future Hokage." Shizuka said, slightly bowing, but smiling just to let him know that she was just making a joke. She remembered when she was little, how she swore to her parents that she would become hokage and protect the people in need, and the people she loved. She would introduce herself just like that.

Maybe this boy just had not matured as fast as Shizuka had…he was just like all the others. Those spoiled brats that walced around with no manners whatsoever. Shizuka scouled on the inside, but really she felt a kind of pull towards Naruto, like they had loads in common, even if they just had met. Shizuka decided she would try to befriend this strange boy. He seemed a bit obnoxious… but who isn't?

"_Maybe this is my problem…Maybe I judge people too harshly…" _Shizuka mentally noted she needed to change that.

"_If I'm going to find my place in this villiage, then I am going to have to be nicer to people"_

Shizuka might have thought she was judging other people too harshly, but she was missing one of the most important factors- herself. She had taken so much notice in how she acted around other people, she had almost completely forgoten about herself.

* * *

The woman came back out, and sat a paper bag, containing two boxes full of steeming ramen down on the counter. Shizuka handed the woman the money, and grabbed the bag. Naruto was just paying too, and she thought about asking if he was the one on her team. 

"_No, that'd sound like I was a stalker or something…"_

She started to walk away, towards the orfenage, and noticed Naruto was just behind her, his hands propping his head back, looking up at the night sky.

Shizuka glanced back at him. He looked like perfect friend material. Smiling at this thought, she stopped in the middle of the street, not really paying attention to what she was doing. Naruto, not paying any attention to where he was going, either, walked into her.

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't paying attention…"

"It's ok," Naruto said, in a tone that didn't sound excactly nice, but not rude either. He stepped to his left and contined his stargazing.

Before Shizuka knew it, they were in front of the orfangage. Naruto just walked right in, like it was some kind of routine. Shizuka followed, catching up to him.

He looked down at her.

"Huh?" he let out, stopping.

"Why are you here?" He said.

Shizuka looked back up at him. He was almost three, or maybe even four inches taller than she was.

"I live here…" She said. Slightly glaring at him.

" That's weird. I haven't ever seen you around here." He said, repeating his comment from earlier.

"_Wow. This guy has almost no attention span…" _Shizuka added to her mental notes.

"Oh well. Where's your room?" He said, walking forward.

"Uhm…I think it's down the hall, to the left." Shizuka replied, following him. His room seemed to be by her's, because they were walking together for about a minute until they passed by an older woman carrying packs of jelly-like stuff.

"Hehe, watch this." Naruto said. Shizuka eyed Naruto.

"Hello, can I please have one of those?" Naruto asked the woman.

"Sure, Naruto. Here you go." She handed him one, and continued walking.

"You don't want to try this stuff, trust me."Naruto said, noticing Shizuka reaching for the jello.

"Then why did you-" Shizuka began to say, but was distracted. He pulled his arm back, apparently aiming for something… the old woman.

"Ready," Shizuka looked around nervously, hoping not to be caught watching someone do such a thing.

"Set…" Naruto opened the top to the plastic cup.

"Fire!" He threw the substance at the woman, and Shizuka couldn't help but to suppress a wide grin when it hit the back of her head. Before anyone knew it though, Shizuka and Naruto were gone, the blond racing down the hallway, dragging Shizuka with him. They stopped once they were around the corner, and Naruto burst out into laughter that caused him to fall to the ground.

Shizuka couldn't help but laugh. The way the slime-like substance slowly trickled down her head, the way her trembling hand reached up to her hair, feeling the green stuff in her perfectly made bun, and the way she screamed "Naruto!" so loudly that Shuizuka would bet all of the sound villiage could hear.

She couldn't explain this feeling, this feeling of pure hapiness, this was the most fun she had had in months! Maybe even years. Shizuka looked down at Naruto rolling around on the ground, and just then knew, knew that this was where she belonged. The leaf villiage was where she was supposed to be. This was her home, forever.

* * *

Yeah. Uh. I'm off. To go. Uh. Plan out the next chapter. I know this chapter was like. fillery-ish, but. Whatever. She met Naruto. 

ANYWAY. The chapter after the next one will have like. a time-skip. And it will be all happy and crap 'cause Naruto will be like. All mature and stuff. I'm thinking like- ohh, about hm. a few years. Shizuka probably wont start- I MEAN. Sorry folks. No spoilers for you in this story.

But yeah. Hoped you liked it...ok. Happy forth of july, loves.

-Rachel (accesorized, dorks.)


	6. Chapter 6:Nightmares and Pineapples

**Kso. I don't own Naruto. Even if I wish I did. -cough- ANYWAYS. I love you for reading this chapter. I think it's pretty good, besides the fact that it's as short as crap. If that makes any sense. I just liked the ending. Whoo. Next chapter might not be a time-skip after all! WHOO. K. So. On with the story.**

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Darkness enveloped her, sending chills down her spine. She could make out a lone figure in the darkness, a man, it looked like. Or atleast, a human. When the man appeared, she could see the face of her father, boring into her mind. At that point, though, a light shined in the darkness. She turned on her heel, and started to run, as fast as she could in this dream world of hers towards the only hope of escaping. She began to feel her chest tightening, and the light was getting farther away by the second. She pushed herself to run faster, but something pulled her to a stop. She willed herself to keep moving, that everything would be alright as long as she reached that light, but she couldn't.

Her father stared at her with those black eyes of his. He slid a sword out of a pouch on his waist, and held it up, ready to strike. The light had faded now, but she could still see her father's face, glowing in the darkness. He brought it down, and the girl screamed in terror--

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Shizuka sat up, gasping for air. Sweat drenching her forehead, her hair sticking to her face. She looked around the small room, and spotting the sun slowly rising over the horizen out of the window collapsed on her pillow.

It was just a dream..that was what she kept telling herself.

She then sat back up, glanced at the small crib Isuma was sleeping in, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed only to see the most horendous sight…

-Naruto's p.o.v-

Naruto jumped up from behind the bushes, and pressed his face against Shizuka's window, hoping to scare her. She could have cared less at that moment though. She was still asleep! Tossing and turning, Naruto thought of an ingenious plan. He grabbed a rock from the neatly patted down soil, and through it at the window. It made a shattering noise.

His plan had worked.

Shizuka sat up abruptly, glanced at the window, just missing him as he ducked under it. (A.N-She was kinda sleepy so she didn't notice the hole in the window..)

Just as she collapsed back on her pillow, Naruto jumped back up.

-Normal P.O.V-

Shizuka stared through the window, blinking at Naruto.

"Hurry up and get to the training grounds! Gosh, you're taking foreverrr!" He said, giving Shizuka a silly grin. Then he poofed away. Shizuka stared at the place where the clone of Naruto had been, with wide eyes.

"_oh..it was just a clone..still..that was a bit scary." _Shizuka thought, blinking.

She quikly got up, tying her hair in a tight ponytail. She walked over to Isumas' crib and picked him up gently, as he was still asleep. She rested him on her hip as she pulled off her pajama shorts and attempted to tug her black training pants on with one hand.

Shizuka wrapped her ankles, and slipped on some white sandels. She kept the plain red t-shirt she was wearing, as it was too hard to change it while holding Isuma.

On her way out the door she swiftly grabbed her headband and tied it quickly on her forehead, and let her bangs fall down over it. She flicked the lights off, and closed the door to her room. In the hallway was walking the same lady that Naruto had hit with jello last night. This time though, she was carrying a tray holding chewy bars. Shizuka shielded her face, and grabbed two of the bars as she walked by.

Once she was outside, munching on the rather stale piece of food, she reilized that she had no idea where the training grounds were.

"Crap." Shizuka muttered, looking around, as if to find someone who might know where her team trains. She spotted a girl with long blond hair and a konoha headband on. She was wandering around with a rather large friend, and a boy that had brown hair, that was tied up in a ponytail, which, Shizuka observed, made him look a bit like a..pineapple? Shizuka shook her head, and walked towards the group. She tapped the pinapple boy on the shoulder lightly, and he stopped, and turned around, his gaze resting on Isuma for a split-second.

"What do you want.." He said, grunting slightly. Shizuka hesitated a moment, then asked.

"D'you know where team 7 trains around here? I'm a bit new.." She said, looking down at her feet.

The pineapple boy pointed in front of him, then to the left.

"I believe they meet over on the bridge.." He said, and turned back around. It was obvious that he could care less about Shizuka. She managed a small, "thank you". He grunted, and continued to walk along. Shizuka glanced at her watch, and her eyes widened as she saw that she was already 10 minutes late..the Hokage had said to be there at 6:30 sharp. Shizuka started to run, Isuma hanging on for dear life. She finally made it to the bridge, but there was something missing. Where was Kakashi Sensei? She spotted Naruto and another boy leaning on the railing of the bridge, Naruto looking like he was asleep.

The other boy blinked at her, then pushed naruto, hard. He awoke abruptly, and looked around drowsily.

"God, you dobe. Is that her?" He spat at Naruto. Naruto look at her, and his eyes suddenly widened.

"HEY! Shizuka!!" He yelled, waving frantically. Shizuka smiled, walked over to the two boys and sat down next to Naruto, Isuma in her lap.

"So..where's Kakashi Sensei?" Shizuka asked. The question was appointed to the raven-haired boy, but of course, Naruto answered.

"He was late like this for the bell test thing too.." Shizuka blinked.

"There was a 'bell test'?" Shizuka asked, confused.

"Yeah. The bell test- Oh YEAH! You weren't there!"

The raven-haired boy looked from Naruto to Shizuka and shook his head.

"Why do I have to be stuck on a team with two dobes.." He muttered. Lucky for him, Shizuka heard.

"Well that's not very nice. Naruto, I think someone has woken up on the wrong side of the bed, don't you think?" Shizuka said, calm as possible. She was always insulted at home, so this wasn't very much of a big deal, he only called her a dobe. Naruto nodded.

"Let's fight. Now." Sasuke said, standing.

"Excuse me?" Shizuka replied, looking up.

"Get up, and let's fight!" Sasuke said. Shizuka had clearly touched a nerve.

"Alrighty then." Shizuka sat Isuma in Narutos' lap. Naruto started making funny face, and Isuma started cracking up with that cute little baby laugh he had.

Shizuka grabbed a hold of her pocket attatched to her leg, but nothing was in it.

"Damnit.." She cursed.

"Ha, out of kunai, are you? Here." Sasuke thew one of his own kunai at Shizuka, and she caught it easily.

"Let's go." Sasuke said. He started with basic stuff that he had probably learned in the academy. Shizuka was already out of the academy at her old home, so this was nothing. She blocked his kicks and puches so easily that she even yawned once or twice.

"Come on, let's go with the weapons." She said. Sasuke grabbed his weapons, and started throwing them one by one at Shizuka. They had a dulled end so they wouldn't cause any really bad damage. Shizuka dodged them, and even caught a few. There was a short pause in his attacks, and Shizuka had the perfect oppurtunity to knock him over and win easily. She didn't take it though. She wanted to have some fun with this boy.

Naruto watched with amusment as Sasuke got his butt kicked by a girl. No, not a girl, Shizuka.

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**OMG LOL. I LOVED THE ENDING. LOLOL. ; Anyways. I love you. So. Review please. PRETTY PLEASEEEEE. OK. Anyways, there might not be a time skip next chapter, cause I gotsta do the whole thing with Kakashi and all that jazz. Then maybe a time-skip. Whoo. With that in mind, please review.**

**-Rachel.**


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